This week I’ve heard from quite a few of my clients, that they’re over coming bad habits.
I love when I hear this, as I’m well aware of how hard it is to change a bad habit into a good one – permanently.
It takes time and it’s frustrating.
But the end results are worth it.
Now, I want to be clear. I’ve said this before but I’m going to say it again…You don’t have to be perfect!!
In fact, I highly discourage it.
No one is perfect and no one can be all the time without having a blow out at some stage. We all need to take the pressure off.
But most of us have more than a few bad habits we’ve picked up over the years.
I know I did…
My worst habits when I first met Matt were –
- I tried to force myself to only eat 3 times a day
- Emotional eating
- I would trade off exercise for bad food
- I was not consistent with my exercise
- I did not eat enough fruit or veggies
- I did not drink much water
No I know this seems like a long list, but when you really look at it a lot of these bad habits were changed straight away.
I met Matt and he became my Trainer. So, I got consistent with my exercise. He started to coach me on my nutrition, so I started to eat more often and included more fruit and veggies in my meals.
These to me were the ones I could pick up quicker. .
The really hard ones were –
- Emotional eating:
A lot of you have heard me speak and have read blogs on this topic before. It is something that has taken me a long time to get a handle on.
So how did I fix this one?
Baby steps. I went from eating a whole block of chocolate to having half. I went from eating a litre of ice-cream to having a few scoops in a bowl.
I learnt that cutting sweets out of my life altogether was making the situation worse. By having something each week I would limit the times I would crave these foods and emotionally break down.
Dark Chocolate is now my favorite - Plus I make sure I eat a little Ice cream once a week
- Drinking more water:
Now I didn’t do it because I hated the taste of water. I didn’t drink it because I would forget.
So how did I fix this one?
Well to tell you the truth – I’m still working on it. Yes, that right – I don’t have it down as a permanent change yet.
I am accountable to Matt regarding how much I drink every day. I’m accountable to my body, as my headache will tell me if I’ve not had my required amount for the day. I went out and bought a 2 litre water bottle, so I could keep track of my intake.
I’ve also heard of people setting alarms in their phones to go off when they need to drink. Matt has made drinking after every meal a habit. This ensures he gets in the right amount. Every time he finishes a meal, he drinks a extra-large glass of water. It’s become a permanent habit for him.
I know something as easy as drinking water should be, ‘one of the easy ones’ to fix. But what I’ve learnt is – there are no ‘easy ones’.
You have to be able to identify and address your worst habit – that you feel capable to work on.
What this means is – if you’re a smoker and you feel this is your worst habit; But don’t feel ready to address this. Then don’t!
Focus on something you feel ready and able to address now. The other bad habits will still be there when you’re ready.
DON’T focus on them all at once.
This is a huge mistake I see all too often. It’s a big ask to overcome years upon years, of one bad habit – let alone trying to tackle all of them at once.
So, I applaud all of you working on developing new healthy habits.
And, for those of your yet to start. Take note of your worst habits. Then pick the one you feel you’re capable of working on, and that will benefit you’re the most.
Remember it’s a long and frustrating process – but…oh so worth it J
Court
